2004 Washington D.C. Trip Information
Itinerary for the trip.
Parent Meeting Info.
Dear Parents and DC Students, Time is quickly passing before we leave in April for our annual Washington DC Field Trip! We have been busily preparing things for our trip, keeping your child’s safety, needs, and interests at the forefront of every decision. Probably most difficult of our decisions has been the completion of the chaperone list. Although it was hard to choose among so many wonderful people, we are extremely excited that Becky Wilhelm, Todd Elrod, Cindy Benson, Laura Scrivner, Jeff Hotopp, and our wonderful nurse Patty Hoerst will be helping us out with our trip this year. We will be having a very important parent meeting Tuesday April 6th at 7:30 PM in the Junior High Auditorium. We would like for you to attend so any questions about the trip can be answered. We will be covering the itinerary, the latest security information, flight information, hotel information, medication administration forms, Capitol picture forms, and, an emergency phone chain will be developed.
Next week we will meet with the students again during noon homeroom. At this meeting we will again go over the rules of the trip, have students fill out their luggage tags and their identification cards. Both the tags and the ID cards will be collected at this meeting and given back to your child at the airport. The ID cards might be needed at some of the buildings in DC and is also important because it has Lakeland’s number on the back to call in case of an emergency.
Once again we
will have an extremely important parent meeting Tuesday April 6th
at 7:30 PM in the Junior High
Auditorium. There we will discuss
details of the trip and answer any questions you may have. Please plan to
attend or have someone take notes for you at this incredibly important meeting.
Sincerely,
Shawn Sowders Janelle Sowders
Shawn.Sowders@southwestschools.org Janelle.Sowders@southwestschools.org
February 9, 2004
Dear Parents,
Time is quickly passing before we leave in April for our annual Washington
DC Field Trip! We have been busily preparing things for our trip, keeping your
child's safety, needs, and interests at the forefront of every decision.
Probably most difficult of our decisions has been the completion of the
chaperone list. Although it was hard to choose among so many wonderful parents,
we are extremely excited about our list and the strengths that each of our
parents will bring. We have assembled a team that will help ensure your
student's needs, safety, and concerns. Our chaperones this year will be: Shawn
Sowders, Cindy Benson, Patty Hoerst, Jeff Hotopp, Laura Scrivner, and Becky
Wilhelm. Due to Janelle Sowders' due date, she will not be able to attend this
year's trip. You should be receiving a letter from World Strides that has
roommate selections, an emergency medical form and the list of rules attached to
the back. The roommate selection list is for your student's reference only so
that they can begin thinking about who will be in their room. We will sign up
rooms in a few weeks and will not need those lists World Strides provided. The
list of rules, however, are extremely important and must be signed by you and
your student and returned to Mrs. or Mr. Sowders NO LATER THAN February 18,
2004. Please make sure you have filled out the front and the back of this
important paper. Students will not be permitted to attend the trip without that
paper signed and on file. Please go over the list of rules with your child very
carefully, as those rules and all school rules are strictly adhered to on our
trip. We will soon be sending out information concerning flights. If we
should be on more than one flight, it is extremely important that your child
send the information back to us as soon as possible. We fill each spot on a
first come, first serve basis. Please discuss with your child that it is in
their best interest to listen to announcements concerning these details. We
have had difficulty this year with some students adhering to those announcements
and those students have missed out on valuable information concerning meetings
and fund-raisers. As our trip approaches, more information will be made
available to them, as it has been all year, through the announcements that are
given three times a day, the bulletin board outside Mrs. Sowders' room, and the
school's website.
As always, if you have any questions, please contact us through the school's
office (367-4831) or e-mail us.
Thank you!
Rock-a-thon Fundraiser Pictures
Washington DC Trip: April 21-24, 2004
1.
Introduction
2.
Safety Concerns
-World Strides commitment to safety
-Safety Record of events in the past 3 decades, with over 2
million students
-Company is comprised mostly of parents and former educators
-World Strides office is staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
-Continuous support staff at hotel, on buses, chaperones, etc
-World Strides Contacts, including intelligence firms like the Secret Service
-Cancellation Policy
-$84 Fee- will receive all money back minus the registration fee, insurance
cost, and money fund-raised
-Automatically enrolled, must deny on back of
form
-covers if you need to cancel before departure, transportation home in case of
emergency, parents flight out in case of emergency and hospitalization,
reimbursement in case of lost luggage
-27 million dollar insurance policy to refund in
case of cancellation
-We highly recommend the cancellation policy
3. About the Trip
-World Strides and HJS History:
-World Strides: 36 years
-HJS: 25th year!
-Cost-$865- includes flight, meals, lodging, security, bus transportation, and any
admission prices
-Spending Money/Capitol Pictures/Hard Rock Souvenirs
-Registration and Payments
Registration is due by October 17th. Any student not registered
by October 17th will not be able to go on the trip due to reservation
deadlines.
-Monthly Payment Schedules (Charge
applied)
-Typical
Schedule:
-Leave Wednesday afternoon/evening; settle in at hotel
-Thursday/Friday: on the road by 7:00 AM;
back to the hotel by 8:00/9:00 PM
-Items we see include (but not limited to): Washington Monument, White House,
Capitol, Supreme Court, Library of Congress, Holocaust Museum (Daniel’s Story),
Pentagon, Ford’s Theater/Petersen’s House, Smithsonian Museums (National
Archives, Air and Space, Natural History, American History), The Newseum, The
Awakening, National Zoo, National Cathedral, Embassy Row, Arlington National
Cemetery, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Arlington House, Kennedy Gravesites,
Mount Vernon, Alexandria, VA, Watergate, Union Station, The Naval Yard, and
Kennedy Center. Memorials: FDR, Iwo Jima, Jefferson, Korean, Lincoln, Vietnam,
and the new World War II.
-Saturday: on the road by 7:00 AM, fly back in the afternoon/evening
-Evening Pool Time/Dance/Pizza Party
-Eat at Hard Rock, and ESPN Zone
Housing: -Chain Hotels
-Nightly Security
-Choosing of Rooms
-Food
-Parent Chaperones
-1 chaperone per 15 students
-Due to 25th anniversary, mostly teachers will be
going this year
-Definitely 4, possibly more Jr. High Teachers
-Definitely 1 nurse
-Open to just students and chosen chaperones
4. Fund-Raising
-3
Fundraisers (Rock-a-thon- October 25th 1-4 PM ,Joe Corbi’s Pizza-
November, Candy Sale- December/January)
-In 2003, 60
students out of the 98 students who attended the
trip, 60 chose to fundraise.
-On average, those 60 students reduced their
trip by more than $200.
-Many of those students, through hard work and determination, paid their entire
way by their fundraising efforts.
-With the three fundraisers, more than $13,000
was deferred from last year’s total cost.
-Announcements each morning, lunchtime,
and afternoon
-Fund-raising cannot be reimbursed in event of cancellation or no show
-Committee needed
5. Individual Questions
Questions? janelle.sowders@southwestschools.org
shawn.sowders@southwestschools.org